Friday Dinner: Soup & 2 sides

My parents were coming for dinner, and as usual I was already running out of time before I'd even started to make dinner. Also, I wanted something healthy and fresh. And I'd bought some random vegetables a few days before that I needed to use up. Oh, and I had some leftover rice from making sushi, and I wanted to use that, too. But my dad is a little picky - he'll eat what ever someone makes for him, but I actually wanted him to like it, too. Mexican is usually popular, so I wanted to combine the rice into something Mexican... I thought maybe I could mix into some soup, so I went to one of my old standbys: Vegetarian Soup Cuisine: 125 Soups and Stews from Around the World. I found a couple soup recipes that used rice, but didn't have the ingredients for either one. Instead, I combined them into a Mexican Corn Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Greens.

Mexican Corn Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Greens

2 sweet potatoes
2-3 leaves collards
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 cube buillion
3-4 cups water
1 can corn
serve with rice

Soup is always easy, and I try to make it even easier. Basically, chop the vegetables, boil those that take longer first, then add the others. In this case, cook the collards and sweet potatoes for 10-15 minutes (with boullion & nutritional yeast). Then at the very end add the canned corn. To serve, scoop into a bowl and put some rice on top.



Bean & Tomato Salad

1 very large and wrinkled heirloom tomato
1 container pre-mixed bean salad
6 leaves basil
6 sprigs parsley

I felt like we needed some protein, but as I looked through my canned beans nothing really sounded like ti would go with the soup. I thought about adding some white kidney beans, which would have been fin,e but didn't sound great. I also had a can of bean salad, and thought I could serve that with some herbs and tomatoes.

Basically, open the bean salad and out in a large bowl. Chop the herbs finely, and the tomato coarsely. Add to bowl, and mix everything well. Tada!

Brussel Sprouts

1 small bag brussel sprouts
2 small sweet mini bell peppers
white balsamic
butter
olive oil
brown sugar



I had the brussel sprouts, and those are not good when they are not fresh. For that reason, I wanted to use them up. I also bought them at the regular store, so I was already suspicious that they'd be bitter. (If you think you don't like brussel sprouts, try them fresh from the farm... they are a different vegetable). To make sure they weren't bitter, I decided to add butter and brown sugar :)

I also mixed in some white balsamic and olive oil, just to add some more depth. I cut the sprouts in half (so they'd absorb more in their leaves), added the butter, oil, vinegar, and sugar. Baked for 20 minutes in the oven at 350, covered with foil. In hindsight, I would have left the foil off to let them get crispy.



Everyone says: The brussel sprouts are the big winner.
Time: Maybe 45-60 minutes to prepare everything, plus another 20-30 while they cook.

Wednesday: Easy Dinner of Soup and Side

Mid-week, and I am feeling tired. But yet I want something fresh for dinner, and don't want to go out. Soup is always easy, and you'd be amazed at how many vegetables can fit into a bowl of soup! Another trick is to combine something homemade with something store bought or already prepared. Tonight I used that trick twice! I had some Aisan-style dumplings, and they only needed 2-3 minutes to boil. That sounded good to me. I also had some pre-cut sweet potatoes.

Asian Dumpling Soup

1-2 carrots
2-4 mini bell peppers (1/2-1 regular bell pepper would work, too)
1 small handful broccolini (broccoli flowering stalks, but 1/4 head of broccoli would work, too)
1 small handful already shelled edamame beans
4-6 cups water (6 if you are using larger volume of vegetables)

6-12 small Asian-style dumplings (mine were stuffed with mung-bean noodles, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, and a lot of flavoring, but mostly soy sauce)

1 large spoonful miso paste (or 2-3 packets instant miso)
1 large spoonful tahini (sesame seed paste)

Chop the vegetables to your preferred size. Larger chunks are easier to cut, but slower to cook (and vice versa). Add to boiling water. Cook for a few minutes, until carrots are just turning soft. Add the dumplings, cook a couple more minutes. Remove from heat.



After you remove from heat, add the tahini and miso. If using paste, you may want to mix well in small bowl with 1/2 water before adding, to make sure it gets dissolved. Miso is "living" (it is fermented), so it is best to add it after the soup has stopped boiling, so it stays "alive."

Curried Sweet Potatoes and Apples

Curry used on anything besides curry in an instant way to fancify. I prove it here with curried sweet potatoes.

1 package pre-cut sweet potatoes (or 1 large sweet potato, cut into strips)
1 apple, sliced thinly
1-2 tablespoons curry powder



I used an apple slicer to slice the apples, and they were too thick. If you use an apple slicer, cut them in half after you use it, so they are closer in size to the sweet potatoes. Place sweet potatoes and apples on a cooking sheet, spray with oil, spread around, and spray again. You could also put them in a bowl and pour oil over them and mix them up; more oil would make them crispier. Once arranged on try, sprinkle with curry powder. Bake at 350-375 for 15-30 minutes (longer for crispier product).



Marshall says: "The soup needs more salt." "Woah! Are these apples?? I just dipped them in my ketchup!" I recommend warning guests that apples are mixed in with sweet potatoes so they don't make the same mistake. I thought the soup would have actually been better as a stir fry - all the same ingredients, but without the water and in a pan instead of a pot. With a little more oil of course.
Total Time: 45 minutes or so
Leftovers: Ate all the potatoes and apples; had 1 bowl of soup for lunch the next day.